We will all learn to live with this illness, Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, that is in one of us.
I hope to share the journey with others and to make a difference along the way.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Almost five years later.......:)

Have you ever sat and watched the most glorious sunrise or sunset....... one that makes you just sigh that deep sigh that plants a smile on your face and in your soul, makes your shoulders drop in utter relaxation and the smile lines around your eyes deepen?

Well, after feeling a bit like "Senor Frog" for a good while, we saw that sunrise....

Yes, Steven's results are in already. Last time that wonderful number was 0.025% on the international scale. This is a good number in relation to cml, its not a bad number at all in response to Gleevec and we were quite prepared to be at ease with things if he just hovered around at this number, or close.

But nooooo, not this time. This time it's.... enter beautiful sunset/sunrise, place the happy smile...drumroll please...... There are NO numbers, his counts are too low to report as a number :)
How flippen amazing is this!!??

This time Steven's counts were only listed as 'weak positive' on both the old scale and the new International Scale of reading the cml cells. This means that out of around a million of his cells that were tested, only a very few - yes, less than 10, came back with a sign of cml. This is as close to totally undetectable as one can come.

This is something we have all been hoping for, waiting for, for almost five years now. And yes, I am aware that they can bounce up again, and down again and go on like that driving me close to nuts as possible........ but for now - for now I smile deep inside and outside and the world is beautiful and life is just that extra bit better than best.

And with this news came a need to say a huge Thank You to so many that have endlessly held my hand, listened to my gripes and worries, felt my tensions and lived with my moods in the less than nice times. Although these past years since Steven was diagnosed have been difficult and scary, they have, in retrospect, not been terrible. Steven is alive and doing well, we are all getting on with our lives and we have all grown into better people because of the whole circumstance.

I know that I could not have got through these past five years without you. Yes you. And you and you too. Every one of you have been there for me, for Steven. With us. You have held me up, pushed me along, led me and walked with me along the road to where I am today. I think that if my cells were put under a microscope, there would be a little of each of you showing up in there, a part of what makes me whole and capable.

You come from all around the world with widely varying circumstances, but each with a good heart and a hand held out. Thank you. Thank you!

And so, with these wonderful results in hand, we head into the summer months of 2011 and year number six living with cml in one of us. What a wonderful way to close off these cold winter months and start a new year.

And just as a funny thought.... just a few years ago, I would have been absolutely offended at any part of any of my kids being described as "weak positive" and I would have been horrified at any test result with so many zero's... now I am soooooo happy! Funny how things change.....gotta love it. :)

I wish smooth sailing on the oceans of life for everyone.
Love and light
Annie

Life

About Me

This blog is from my point of
view as a mom with an adult
child who has cancer.
In no way do I mean to take away
from what he, or anyone else is
going through. These are purely
my thoughts and feelings at the
time of writing and in no way
suggest treatment options nor do
they offer advice in any way.
This is my way of strengthening
myself, which in turn will
strengthen Steven too.